Caroline Ansell

Councillor

Ansell was first elected as a Conservative Party councillor on 31 May 2012, at the age of 41^[15]. She served as a councillor for three years, representing the Meads ward of Eastbourne Borough Council.^[10]

During her time as a councillor, Ansell successfully secured cross party support to establishing Eastbourne as the 'Eastern Gateway Town' to the South Downs National Park and the authority's support for a second runway at Gatwick Airport. She was part of the team to bring back Meads Magic, a community Christmas event which brings thousands of people to the area.^[16][17][18]

Member of Parliament

Ansell was selected by her local party membership to stand as the Conservative Party candidate in the 2015 general election. Ansell won the competitive selection for one of her party’s top target seats against candidates with health, law and military backgrounds, including two of her future parliamentary colleagues Ben Howlett and Alberto Costa.^[19] Against predictions^[20] she beat Stephen Lloyd, the Liberal Democrat incumbent, with a majority of 733 votes, having been described before the election by a columnist in The Independent newspaper as "a terrific candidate…eloquent, personable and clearly knows and loves the town".^[21] She then went on to serve the constituency of Eastbourne for two years.^[22]

Ansell exerted influence with ministers to enable substantial investment into the town. This included £75 million to improve the A27^[23] a major problem for Eastbourne^[24] and £5 million from the government’s Local Growth Fund Round 3 programme^[25] given to the town’s Devonshire Park development and a share of £13.2 million earmarked for Sovereign Harbour from the same pot of money.^[26]

Ansell was instrumental in helping an American Eastbourne resident and mother Katy Garlington,^[5] who was allowed to stay in the UK after Ansell intervened with the Home Office and persuaded the then immigration minister James Brokenshire to stop her deportation.^[27]

Another Eastbourne resident Atterbell Maplanka was released from custody over immigration issues after another intervention from Ansell.^[6] Ansell also championed the campaign by victims of revenge porn offender Olly Whiting^[28] to obtain justice for his crimes after he posted content on a US website, working with local police, Sussex PCC Katy Bourne and the then-Home Secretary, Theresa May.

Ansell worked with local Eastbourne actress Lauren Backler^[29] and her campaign to reduce the bowel cancer screening age from 60 to 50 in England to bring it in line with Scotland. Backler lost her mother to the disease and Ansell organised a parliamentary debate on the issue and lobbied ministers to look into the lowering the age to 50. Backler became a champion for the charity Bowel Cancer UK^[30] and raised awareness of the condition and its symptoms.

Ansell was defeated in the 2017 general election by 1,609 votes; the seat was regained by Stephen Lloyd for the Liberal Democrats. A poorly received Conservative manifesto and tactical voting were blamed for the defeat.^[31]

Ansell was the first female MP to represent the constituency and credits her mother for giving her ambition.^[32]

Political positions

Brexit, 2016

Ansell voted to leave the EU at the 2016 referendum in line with her constituency who voted by 57% to 43% to do the same.^[33][34] Prior to making her intention to vote for Brexit, Ansell organised and chaired the largest debate on the issue in the south east of England.^[35] The Big Eastbourne EU debate took place at the 1680-capacity Congress Theatre in the town on 26 May 2016 after the 900-seat Winter Garden was too small for the numbers who wanted to attend.^[36]

Choice of Prime Minister, 2016

Ansell supported Theresa May in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election. She said of May: "In these challenging times, I firmly believe she has the experience and credibility to be an excellent Prime Minister. Her authority is unmatched and as such she will command the respect of the House of Commons and the confidence of the public."^[37]

2015-17 Parliamentary votes

Ansell was a government critic on grammar schools,^[38] schools budgets,^[39] fox hunting,^[40] National Insurance changes,^[41] and Personal Independence Payments benefit cuts.^[42]

Ansell voted at the direction of the Conservative government whip in nearly every vote as an MP during her time in parliament. Ansell voted with Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs and rebelled on the Enterprise Bill — Clause 33 — Powers for Local Government to Vary Sunday Opening Hours for Large Shops^[43][44]

Parliamentary Committees

Ansell served as member of the cross-party Ecclesiastical Committee and the Environmental Audit Select Committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The latter committee was influential in highlighting the danger microbeads in cleaning products held for marine life. ^[45] Other notable green initiatives she was involved in included her support for Beachy Head East becoming a Marine Conservation Zone.^[46]

She also chaired the Education group within the Conservative Party's own 1922 Committee.^[47] where she stated that her ambitions were to improve standards of education ^[48] and sat on several All Party Parliamentary Groups including the APPG on disability and she was vice-chair of the WASPI APPG^[49]the campaign to obtain transitional pension arrangements for women born mainly in the 1950s who have missed out due to pension equalisation legislation brought in during the 2010-2015 parliament^[50] There was much criticism of her predecessor Stephen Lloyd, over this issue as he had sat on the bill committee looking at the legislation that disadvantaged hundreds of thousands of women across the UK and had voted for the bill in parliament when he was an MP.^[51][52]

Ian Gow

Ansell set up the annual Ian Gow Cup public speaking competition for Eastbourne secondary schools in 2015 in memory of former Eastbourne MP Ian Gow who was murdered by the IRA in 1990.^[53] TV presenter David Dimbleby^[54] was one of the judges during the inaugural competition, held at the Winter Garden theatre.

Controversies

Funding from CARE

In common with other MPs from across the political spectrum,^[55] Ansell accepted an intern from the registered charity Christian Action Research and Education (CARE). The funded staff member worked within Ansell's parliamentary office and a donation value of £8,470 was ascribed to the post as a bursary for the individual.

CARE had drawn controversy after sponsoring a conference in 2009 which included sessions promoting therapy for homosexuality described as "mentoring for the sexually broken", which was described in the press as conversion therapy or "gay cures". CARE responded to the connection in a statement: “It has been falsely claimed that CARE supports the so-called ‘gay cure’. We do not. Creating a link between CARE and this issue may make dramatic headlines but it is false and defamatory to claim or imply that CARE supports any so-called ‘gay cure’^[56]

Buzzfeed reignited controversy about CARE, with a story published in the run-up to the 2017 general election. Ansell responded to the story by describing it as "fake news" and said that she was "tolerant of everyone and their beliefs, sexual orientation, colour and creed"^[57]

Ansell defended her use of CARE funded intern, saying "I have a CARE intern because she was the best candidate after I interviewed. To have not given her a job because she is religious is discrimination and I stand by my decision."^[58]

Metro reported that Ansell's main church was also part of a group of "anti-LGBT equality churches... which previously attempted to ‘cure’ and cast ‘demons’ out of gay and transgender people."^[59]

Employment of husband using public funds

From 2015 to 2017, Ansell employed her husband as her personal assistant with public funds. In 2016, officials at the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) said that they were "taken aback" by the fact that there were still 18 MPs, including Ansell, who employed family members in their offices. This was in line with the rules which had been amended by IPSA following the MP expenses scandal to limit employing one family member per office. A review by IPSA in 2010 found that "MPs' family members can provide good value for money due to their willingness to work long and anti-social hours…evidence of only one instance of abuse under the House of Commons system."^[60][61]

Although parliamentary rules allowed such practices at the time, the head of IPSA said in 2017 that employing family members in such a way was "out of step with modern employment practice" and insufficiently "fair and open".^[62] A ban on MPs employing family members in their offices is due to come into effect by 2020. In reaching their conclusion IPSA wrote “this decision is not based on any identified abuse or misclaiming, the report concludes, and even ‘agree[s] with the MPs who have told us that connected parties regularly go “above and beyond” in supporting MPs in their constituency.^[63]

Social media death threats

In April 2017, 51-year-old factory worker Mark Sands was jailed for four months for posting multiple death threats directed at Ansell via social media. The perpetrator had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of "sending via electronic communications a message that was grossly offensive". Sands wrote on his personal Facebook wall: "If you vote to take £30 off my money, I will personally come round to your house... and stab you to death."^[64] He was also issued with a restraining order forbidding him from contacting Ansell. On jailing Sands, District Judge Christopher James said that the offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate.^[65]

In a statement released following Sands’ sentencing, Ansell said: “I do not have any anger towards Mark Sands for what he has done, but many people in public life, particularly women, have to contend with similar abuse and threats on social media sometimes every day, and it is time it was stopped.^[66]